Key Benefits:
Publics concerned: masters of public and private works.
Purpose: Regulations applicable to artificial islands, installations, works and their associated installations on the continental shelf, in the economic zone and ecological protection zone, as well as to the tracing of submarine cables and pipelines.
Entry into force: this decree comes into force on the day after its publication.
Notice: this decree is taken in accordance with the Act No. 76-655 of 16 July 1976 amended on the economic zone and ecological protection area off the coast of the Republic and articles 56, 60, 79, 80 and 87 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, signed at Montego Bay on 10 December 1982.
It defines the procedure applicable to requests for authorization for the establishment and use of artificial islands, structures of structures and their associated facilities on the continental shelf, in the economic zone and ecological protection zone, as well as the procedure for reporting the trace of submarine cables and pipelines.
It will enable the installation and operation of energy production structures, in particular to produce electricity from renewable energies beyond the territorial sea.
References: This decree is available on the website Légifrance (http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr).
The Prime Minister,
On the report of the Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy,
In view of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, including Parts V and VI, signed at Montego Bay on 10 December 1982, published by Decree No. 96-774 of 30 August 1996, together Act No. 95-1311 of 21 December 1995 authorizing its ratification;
Considering the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context signed on 25 February 1991 in Espoo, Finland, approved by France on 15 June 2011;
Having regard to Council Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the conservation of natural habitats and wildlife;
Considering Directive 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 17 June 2008 establishing a framework for community action in the field of marine policy;
Considering Directive 2011/92/EU of the European Parliament and the Council of 13 December 2011 on the assessment of the environmental impact of certain public and private projects;
Vu le Trade codeincluding article L. 233-3;
Vu le Defence code ;
Considering the environmental code, including its article L. 120-1;
Vu le general code of territorial authoritiesincluding its articles LO 6214-6, LO 6314-6 and LO 6414-3;
Considering the general code of public ownership, including articles R. 2124-1 to R. 2124-12;
Vu le Heritage Codeincluding his book V;
Considering the rural code and the maritime fisheries, including its book IX;
Vu la Act No. 68-1181 of 30 December 1968 amended to explore the continental shelf and to exploit its natural resources, including Article 2;
Vu la Act No. 76-655 of 16 July 1976 amended on the economic zone and the ecological protection area off the coast of the Republic, including article 4;
Vu la Act No. 2000-321 of 12 April 2000 amended on the rights of citizens in their relations with administrations, including articles 21 and 22;
Vu la Act No. 2011-525 of 17 May 2011 simplifying and improving the quality of law, including article 16;
Vu le Decree No. 86-606 of 14 March 1986 relating to nautical commissions;
Vu le Decree No. 90-94 of 25 January 1990 amended for the purposes of title II and title IV of Book IX of the Rural Code and Maritime Fisheries, including its article 1;
Vu le Decree No. 90-95 of 25 January 1990 amended for the purposes of Article 3 of the amended Decree of 9 January 1852 setting out the general conditions for the exercise of marine fisheries in fishing areas not covered by the Community Conservation and Management Regulations, including Article 5;
Vu le Decree No. 2002-1434 of 4 December 2002 amended on the tender procedure for electricity production facilities;
Vu le Decree No. 2004-112 of 6 February 2004 concerning the organization of the action of the State at sea;
Vu le Decree No. 2004-374 of 29 April 2004 amended on the powers of prefects, the organization and action of State services in the regions and departments;
Vu le Decree No. 2005-1514 of 6 December 2005 concerning the overseas organization of the action of the State at sea;
Vu le Decree No. 2008-919 of 11 September 2008 taken for the application of the status of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands;
Vu le Decree No. 2010-130 of 11 February 2010 the organization and missions of interregional branches of the sea;
Vu le Decree No. 2010-1582 of 17 December 2010 modified on the organization and missions of state services in overseas departments and regions, Mayotte and Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon;
Vu le Decree No. 2011-1832 of 8 December 2011 relating to open consultations on the Internet;
The State Council (section of public works) heard,
Decrete:
Under this heading, which sets out the rules relating to the authorization required for the construction, operation and use of artificial islands, installations, structures and related installations on the continental shelf and in the economic zone and the ecological protection zone:
1° Construction refers to any work, assembly and installation operation;
2° The operation includes any commercial use of artificial islands, installations, works and their associated facilities;
3° The use means any use for non-commercial purposes.
This Order does not apply to the artificial islands, works and facilities necessary for the activities undertaken by a public or private person on the continental shelf for the purpose of exploration or exploitation of its natural resources within the meaning ofArticle 2 of the Act of 30 December 1968 referred to above.
It also does not apply to artificial islands, works and facilities related to the protection, study, management or exploitation of fish and aquaculture resources.
The Maritime Prefect is the competent authority to issue, pursuant to provisions of Article 4 of Act No. 76-655 of 16 July 1976 and in accordance with the provisions of Articles 56, 60, 79, 80 and 87 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982, the authorizations necessary for the construction, operation and use of artificial islands, installations, structures and their related installations on the continental shelf, as well as in the economic zone and the ecological protection area, defined in the Act No. 76-655 of 16 July 1976.
The Maritime Prefect is the competent authority to issue a temporary authorization of less than two years on the basis of the application file referred to in Article 4 without the advertising and consultation provided for in Articles 6, 7 and 8 provided that this application concerns an experimental or scientific project, without commercial exploitation. Sections 14 and 17 do not apply to this temporary authorization.
The request for authorization shall be sent electronically to the authority defined in Article 3 which acknowledges its receipt. If necessary, it supplements the request.
When applications for construction authorizations, on the one hand, of operation or use, on the other hand, relate to the same project and are submitted by the same applicant, they are the subject of a single application.
Where applications for construction, operation or use authorizations relate to the same project and are submitted by different applicants, they are subject to separate requests addressed simultaneously to the authority defined in section 3 under the conditions of this section.
The applicant may, under separate fold, address the information covered by its right of inventor or industrial property, which it does not wish to make public.
Simultaneous application or applications are accompanied by a file or two files together with the following information:
1° Name, first name, quality, domicile of the applicant or, if the application emanates from a legal person, the following details: nature, name, head office and subject matter of the legal person as well as the name, first name, quality, powers of the signatory of the application and, if applicable, of the authorized representative(s) to the administration;
2° A presentation of the applicant's technical and financial capacity;
3° The location, consistency and area of the right-of-way and location site that is the subject of demand, identified on marine charts by their latitude and longitude, expressed in decimal degrees and minutes, reported to the geodesic system WGS 84;
4° Destinations, nature and cost of work, description of materials used and techniques used;
5° Plans of the facilities to be carried out including a specific description of the right-of-way and location;
6° The schedule for completion of construction or work and the expected date of commissioning;
7° Provisions to ensure the safety of maritime navigation and the prevention of marine accidents;
8° The maintenance and monitoring of impacts on the marine environment;
9° The nature of operations, at the end of authorization or use, to ensure maritime security, as well as the rehabilitation, restoration or rehabilitation of the premises;
10° The rationale for the proposed financial guarantees to preserve the safety of maritime navigation, the protection of marine cultural property and the reversibility of changes in the natural environment and biological resources;
11° When the activity concerned by the application for authorization is listed in the list annexed to Article R. 122-2 of the Environmental Code, an impact assessment prepared under the conditions provided for in Articles L. 122-1 and following of the same code that will give rise to a notice of the administrative authority of the competent State in the field of environment referred to in Article R. 122-6 of that Code,
12° Where applicable, an assessment of the project's impact with respect to the conservation objectives of Natura 2000 sites under the conditions set out in articles L. 414-4 and R. 414-19 and following of the Environmental Code. The Natura 2000 impact assessment is then integrated into the impact assessment;
13° If applicable, the exemption provided for in sections R. 411-6 and R. 411-9 of the Environmental Code;
14° An inventory of economic activities in the area, a study of the socio-economic impacts of the project on these activities and, where appropriate, the modalities of coexistence with these activities;
15° A non-technical summary, possibly accompanied by a visual representation, is attached to the application.
The terms and conditions under which applications and their annexes are established and forwarded are specified by a joint order of the Minister for the Sea and the Minister for the Environment.
The department responsible for the instruction, advertising and consultation provided for in sections 6 to 8 is the departmental direction of the territories and the sea designated by the competent authority.
If the application, through its extension on the marine public domain, requires a title of domanial occupation, the department responsible for the instruction, advertising and consultation provided for in Articles 6 to 8 is the departmental direction of the territories and the sea competent to instruct the application for occupation of the marine public domain.
If the competent authority considers that the applicant's technical and financial capacity is likely to provide reasonable assurance that the project can be completed and, prior to the consultations provided for in Article 7, a prior advertisement consisting of a notice in at least two national newspapers and in a newspaper broadcast in the relevant coastal zone is made.
The costs are borne by the applicant.
If the importance of the project justifies it, this authority shall proceed to the same publication in the Official Journal of the French Republic and, if necessary, in the Official Journal of the European Union.
The notice mentions the main features of the project that were the subject of the original application.
The notice also states that, within thirty days of publication, competitors may report their intention to file a competing application file. Upon expiry of this period, competitors shall have a period of three months to file their records in accordance with the forms set out in section 4.
This section does not apply to projects that, prior to the application for authorization, have been subject to competition as part of a tender procedure.
I. ― The competent authority shall consult with the administrative facade commission established in Article R. 219-1-9 of the Environmental Code and the maritime façade board provided for in Article L. 219-6-1 of the Environmental Code.
This same authority consults the prefects mentioned in theArticle 1 of Decree No. 90-94 of 25 January 1990 and to theArticle 5 of Decree No. 90-95 Same day.
It also consults the local nautical commission in the manner provided for by the decree of 14 March 1986 concerning the nautical commissions.
The persons and organizations consulted shall notify their opinions within four months of their referral. The lack of response within this period is a favourable opinion.
II. ― The competent authority shall collect the opinion of the prefect of the region referred to in Article R. * 219-1-8 of the Environmental Code, of the competent authority in respect of marine cultural property defined in theArticle R. 523-2 of the Heritage Code and the competent military authority.
Where an activity is likely to significantly alter the marine environment of a marine natural park, the consistent advice of the Marine Protected Areas Agency or, on delegation, the Management Board is also required in accordance with section L. 334-5 of the Environmental Code.
III. ― In the event of significant environmental impacts of another State, a member of the European Union or a party to the February 25, 1991 Convention on the Change in Environmental Impact in a Transboundary Context, the authority defined in Article 3 shall promptly notify the applicant of the existence of the application for authorization and shall transmit a file containing the non-technical summary referred to in Article 15 of this Technical Decree as well as a summary of the impact The documents provided are translated, if necessary, into a language of the interested State, the translation costs are borne by the applicant for authorization.
IV. ― The project must be consistent with the strategic façade document or the strategic basin document referred to in sections L. 219-3 and following of the Environmental Code.
V. ― The project must also be consistent with the environmental objectives of the Marine Environment Action Plan provided for in section L. 219-9 of the Environmental Code.
In addition to the consultations provided for in Article 7 of this Order, the application for authorization is subject to a public consultation focusing on issues related to navigation security and organizational and management measures to reduce the likelihood and effects of an accident. This consultation is carried out on the Internet under the following conditions.
The application file, accompanied by a presentation note, is made available to the public for a minimum period of fifteen frank days on the website of the competent authority and the instruction service. The public is informed of the date on which comments on the project will be received.
Within fifteen days from the end of the public consultation, a summary of contributions is made available in conditions identical to those of the public consultation. To achieve this synthesis, an expert may be designated by the service referred to in Article 5 and selected on the list provided for in Article L. 123-4 of the Environmental Code.
This expert is paid under the conditions set out in Article R. 123-28 of the Environmental Code.
Authorization can only be granted after the synthesis has been made available to the public for a minimum period of 10 frank days.
At all stages of the procedure described in this decree, the competent authority or the service referred to in Article 5 may appeal to the expertise of experts, in particular to carry out third-party expertise. When they are intended to add to the documents produced by the applicant of the authorisation under 11°, 12° or 14° of Article 4, these expertise is at the financial expense of the applicant.
At the end of the public consultation provided for in Article 8, the competent authority may make a final decision, taking into account the interests of the competent authority, including the safety of navigation, the reversibility of changes to natural environments and sites, and the coexistence with the activities carried out in the settlement area.
Authorization is granted by order of the competent authority. The silence held on a request for more than four months from the end of the public consultation process corresponding to the end of the minimum period during which the synthesis of contributions is made available to the public is a decision to reject.
The construction, operation or use of the same project may result in a single authorization.
Where applicable, the related authorization, on the one hand, to the marine public domain and, on the other hand, to the economic zone, the ecological protection zone or the continental shelf is approved by a joint order of the relevant prefects.
In the case of several marine prefects, the authorization also gives rise to a joint order of the prefects concerned.
The authorization determines the period between the authorization date and, as the case may be, the start of the construction, the start of the operation or the beginning of the use, at the end of which the authorization becomes null and void. None of these deadlines can exceed twenty-four months. This caducity intervenes after the licensee has been put in place to submit its observations by any means within one month of the date of the acknowledgement of receipt of the stay.
The time limit is suspended in the event of litigation against the authorization. The suspension of the period ends on the date of the intervention of a final court decision.
This caducity cannot result in compensation.
The authorization includes the following:
1° The modalities, from an initial state of the premises, of monitoring the project with regard to its impact on the environment, on natural resources, on marine cultural property and on the activities carried out in the area under review and the modalities for making such information available to the public;
2° The measures and requirements, at the expense of the licensee, to ensure the preservation of the marine environment and cultural property, the safety of navigation, to reduce the probability and effects of an accident and to ensure the proper functioning of the artificial islands, installations and works.
The authorization determines the possibilities to revise the measures and requirements it contains, taking into account the monitoring of the environmental impacts of the project, natural resources, marine cultural property and activities in the area under review. In this case, the competent authority shall collect the opinion of the regional prefect referred to in Article R. * 219-1-8 of the Environmental Code.
The implementation by State departments of these measures or requirements does not open the right to compensation to the holder.
The authorization specifies that the licensee shall, at its own expense, proceed with the removal of artificial islands, facilities, works and related facilities upon the expiry of the authorization or, if it intervenes earlier, at the end of the operation or use. It states that, from the beginning of construction, operation or use, the licensee, in order to ensure the safety of navigation, as well as the reversibility of changes to the natural environment and biological resources after the expiry of the authorization or the end of the operation or use, constitutes financial guarantees that take the form, at the discretion of the licensee, of one of those described in section I, b, d-2 and The amount of these financial guarantees takes into account the estimated cost of security, rehabilitation, restoration or rehabilitation of the site.
This amount may be changed in the event of a finding in the monitoring of the initial state of the premises, a modification of the planned and unforeseen impacts on the natural environment or the conditions for the enforcement of the authorization.
The authorization is issued for a maximum period of thirty years, on a personal basis.
It is revised in the event of a substantial change in the operation of authorized artificial structures, installations or islands or according to new knowledge on the impacts of artificial works, installations or islands on the environment, on natural resources and on activities in the area concerned.
The authorization may specify that the licensee, with the prior agreement of the competent authority, may entrust to third parties, by contract, an authorization to occupy or use any of the facilities for the duration of the remaining authorization. In this case, he remains personally responsible for the fulfilment of his obligations under the authorization initially issued by the competent authority.
The authorization may specify that, for the duration of the remaining authorization, it may be carried out to the partial or total transfer of the authorization to the applicant's request, after prior agreement of the competent authority.
When the licensee is a legal entity of private law, it shall inform the competent authority prior to any modification of its shareholding having the effect of a change in control within the meaning of theArticle L. 233-3 of the Commercial Code. The lack of response within two months is agreed.
In the event of judicial liquidation, the authorization shall be terminated in full right to the closure of the liquidation.
In the event of a repeal of the authorization, the financial guarantees referred to in Article 13 may be implemented by the competent authority, after reinstatement and after the licensee has been put in a position to present its observations.
I. ― Where substantial information as to the nature and objectives of the project and the impact of its implementation has been communicated by the applicant and is inaccurate and likely to have distorted the assessment of the competent authority, the authorization may be repealed without compensation to the State, by reasoned decision of that authority, after making the applicant's observations.
II. ― In the event of a licensee's failure to comply with its obligations with respect to maritime security or the protection and preservation of the marine environment, marine cultural property and biological resources, including fishing resources, the authorization may be suspended for a period of up to six months pending the licensee's compliance with its obligations. Except as a matter of urgency, the suspension intervenes after the licensee has been put in place to submit its comments by any means and to comply with its obligations within one month of the date of the acknowledgement of receipt of the stay. In the event of a serious and persistent breach, the authorization may be repealed without compensation to the State, by reasoned decision of the competent authority.
In the event of a serious breach of navigation security and on the proposal of the Interregional Director of the Sea, the authorization may be repealed without notice, after the licensee has been put in a position to submit its observations by any means.
III. ― In the event of a licensee's failure to comply with the requirement for prior agreement of the competent authority for contracts or a total or partial transfer referred to in section 14 or of the licensee's lack of prior information on an amendment to the control of the legal person, the licensee shall, however, submit its comments within one month of the date of the acknowledgement of receipt of the notice of the stay. The authority may deny its agreement to these contracts, transfers or amendments within two months and, if the contracts are irreversible within six months, repeal the authorization by reasoned decision, without compensation to the State.
IV. ― Authorization includes a provision that provides, in the event of a repeal on a general interest basis, compensation for undepreciated investments within the time limit of the authorization. Amortization is deemed to be carried out by equal annuities over the normal duration of use.
A year before the expiry of the authorization or termination of operation or use, the licensee shall transmit to the competent authority and the prefect of the region referred to in section R. * 219-1-8 of the Environmental Code a report presenting the record of its material activities and their impacts on navigation and the environment.
This report includes a detailed program of kidnapping operations. This program is subject to agreement with the competent authority, which, six months before the end of the authorization, operation or use and after notice by the regional prefect referred to in Article R. * 219-1-8 of the Environmental Code, determines the compatibility of this program with the activities carried out in the area. The lack of response within this period is agreed.
The competent authority may decide to maintain on-site certain elements as long as they benefit ecosystems and do not affect the safety of navigation.
The order approving the authorization is published in the Official Bulletin of the Ministries responsible for the sea and the environment and the collection of administrative acts of the marine prefecture and, if necessary, under the conditions of section R. 2124-11 of the General Code of Public Property.
It is also published by press under the same conditions as those provided for in Article 6.
The route of cables on the continental shelf, in the economic zone and in the ecological protection zone, which land on the French territory, as well as pipelines on the continental shelf, whether already laid or pending at the date of entry into force of this decree, shall be notified, within two years from that date, to the marine prefect by their owner or operator.
The route of the cables and pipelines whose laying is considered shall be notified to the marine prefect six months before the date envisaged for the commencement of the laying, when that date is after six months or more after the date of entry into force of this Order; where the proposed date for the beginning of the pose is less than six months after that date of entry into force, the route to which it is intended is notified without delay.
This Order is applicable to Saint-Barthélemy and Saint-Martin subject to the competences vested in these communities respectively under the terms of provisions of Articles LO 6214-6 and LO 6314-6 of the General Code of Territorial Communities and adaptations provided for in Article 21 of this Decree.
For the purposes of this decree in Guadeloupe, Guyana, Martinique, La Réunion, Mayotte, Saint-Barthélemy, Saint-Martin and Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon:
A. ― The reference to the marine prefect is replaced by the reference to the prefect representing the state at sea designated to theArticle 1 of Decree No. 2005-1514 of 6 December 2005.
B. ― The reference to the departmental direction of the territories and the sea is replaced:
1° In Guadeloupe, Guyana and Martinique, by reference to the direction of the sea;
2° A La Réunion and Mayotte, by reference to the direction of the South Indian Ocean Sea;
3° In Saint-Barthélemy and Saint-Martin, by reference to the direction of the sea of Guadeloupe;
4° In Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, by reference to the direction of the territories, the food and the sea.
C. ― The reference to the maritime façade board is replaced by the reference to the marine ultramarine basin board when it exists.
D. ― The reference to the regional prefect referred to in the fifth paragraph of Article 7, the fourth paragraph of Article 12 and the first and second paragraphs of Article 17 shall be replaced by the reference to the representative of the State in the community.
This Order, with the exception of Article 23, is applicable in the French Southern and Antarctic Lands subject to the following modifications:
1° The reference to the marine prefect is replaced by the reference to the prefect representing the state at sea designated to theArticle 1 of Decree No. 2005-1514 of 6 December 2005 ;
2° The reference to the departmental direction of the territories and the sea is replaced by the reference to the direction of the South Indian Ocean Sea;
3° The provisions of articles 1st, 2, 3 and 5 of Decree No. 2001-492 of 6 June 2001 are applicable in the French Southern and Antarctic Lands for the purposes of this decree;
4° The reference to the regional prefect referred to in the fifth paragraph of Article 7, to the fourth paragraph of Article 12 and to the first and second paragraphs of Article 17 is replaced by the reference to the senior administrator of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands designated in Article 17Article 1 of Decree No. 2008-919 of 11 September 2008 ;
5° The reference to the marine façade board is replaced by the reference to the ultramarine marine board, where it exists;
6° The 12th of Article 4 is not applicable;
7° III and V of Article 7 are not applicable;
8° In Article 8 of this Decree, the third and fourth paragraphs shall be replaced by the following provisions:
"In a period of fifteen days from the end of the public consultation, a summary of the contributions is made available in conditions identical to that of the public consultation by an expert designated by the South Indian Ocean Authority.
"An order of the Minister for the Sea sets out the list of experts to whom it may be appealed and the conditions of their remuneration. » ;
9° In Article 18 of this Decree, the words: "and, if necessary, under the conditions of Article R. 2124-11 of the General Code of Public Property" are replaced by: "and in the Official Journal of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands. »
The 5th of Article 1 of Decree No. 2002-1434 of 4 December 2002 is supplemented by the words "referred, if any, by the latitude and longitude coordinates expressed in decimal degrees and minutes, reported to the geodesic system WGS 84, when located on the marine public domain or in the economic zone".
In the title of the Decree No. 90-95 of 25 January 1990, the words: "From Article 3 of the amended Decree of 9 January 1852 setting the general conditions for the exercise of the marine fisheries" are replaced by the words: "From Title II of Book IX of the Rural Code and the Maritime Fishing".
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy, the Minister of Overseas and the Minister Delegate to the Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy, responsible for transport, the sea and fisheries, are responsible, each with respect to it, for the execution of this Order, which will be published in the Official Journal of the French Republic.
Done on 10 July 2013.
Jean-Marc Ayrault
By the Prime Minister:
The Minister of Ecology,
Sustainable Development
and energy,
Philippe Martin
Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Laurent Fabius
Minister of Overseas,
Victorin Lurel
Minister Delegate
to the Minister of Ecology,
sustainable development and energy,
Transport Officer
of the sea and fishing,
Frédéric Cuvillier
